Protest at Swedish Embassy

Protest at Swedish Embassy

Some 20 Cambodian workers who say they were ripped off by a company they worked for in Sweden gathered at the country’s embassy in Phnom Penh yesterday to ask for assistance.

The temporary employees of Skogsvardsarbetare hos Botnia Skong AB, who worked there between April to October of last year say the tree-planting company underpaid them for their first three months of work, workers representative Sar Ponleu, 28, said yesterday. After they returned to Cambodia, company representatives claimed they had declared bankruptcy, and could not pay them for their second three months.

“When we returned to Cambodia, the company suddenly announced to the Ministry of Labour in Sweden that they were bankrupt, circumventing their payment of workers’ remaining wages,” Ponleu said.

Community Legal Education Center labour department head Moeun Tola, who is helping the 74 aggrieved workers, said that there is no evidence that Skogsvardsarbetare declared bankruptcy. If they did, Tola said, they are still required to pay workers for services rendered.

But Hang Keopiseth, brother-in-law to company owner Eric Gustav Ingermar Persson, said that measures are being taken to repay the former employees.

MOST VIEWED

Minister of Education Hang Chuon Naron on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen requesting a delay of school reopening across the Kingdom until November, when the new academic year begins.
In his letter, Chuon Naron said the postponement is warranted to avoid the new

The Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Immigration (GDI) announced that it would not grant visa extensions to foreigners staying in Cambodia if their names are not listed on the Foreigners Present in Cambodia System (FPCS) by July 1.
Foreign nationals can register in the

The Covid-19 risk level for individual transmission is at an “alarming rate” in the Kingdom and its probability is “not low”, warned Health Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine.
“Cambodia’s coronavirus scenario is classified as being at an early stage of the pandemic because of ongoing

Some of the roughly 30,000 workers from factories and enterprises across the Kingdom who went on leave during Khmer New Year began their government-imposed 14-day quarantine on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference while visiting workers at the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone on Monday, Ministry

The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has instructed enterprises, business owners and travel agencies in five provinces to prepare the proper forms for the suspension of employment contracts.
This, it said, will make it easier for the ministry to transfer $40 a month to workers

While the majority of Cambodians have paid heed to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s order to stay put and not travel during the Khmer New Year – the holidays of which were also postponed – several hundred have left Phnom Penh nonetheless.
They have allegedly breached provincial

Top oil producers struggled to finalise production cuts during a virtual summit held by Group of 20 (G20) energy ministers on Friday, despite US President Donald Trump’s mediation efforts to end a standoff with Mexico.
The final G20 communique appeared to gloss over simmering divisions

The government on Friday eased the district and provincial border restrictions issued on Thursday. People are now allowed to cross districts within their provinces.
Phnom Penh and Kandal province are to be treated as a single region where people are allowed to travel freely.
In

The Cambodian Higher Education Association has claimed that 113 private educational establishments are facing bankruptcy because of their inability to pay rent and staff salaries in light of nationwide school closures caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.
It said the financial trouble started when the Ministry of